CHAMPAIGN – Don Hardin could give his well-worn speech a rest Saturday night.

No need for the University of Illinois volleyball coach to promise his team, as he has so often during the past month, that they would be rewarded if they just kept plugging way.

Iowa forced Illinois to play its type of game. The Hawkeyes ended up paying for it.

CHAMPAIGN – The rut continues.

The University of Illinois volleyball team again put up a good fight against one of the Big Ten Conference's best. And once more, the Illini had nothing to show for it but a loss.

CHAMPAIGN – One of these days, promises Don Hardin, his University of Illinois volleyball team will do more than simply throw a scare into a national power.

"This team's real close to cracking it open," the Illini coach said Wednesday night after No. 5 Wisconsin stretched its winning streak to 11 matches with a hard-fought 11-15, 15-5, 15-9, 15-8 victory at Huff Hall. "As the weeks progress, I think we're more and more dangerous."

ATLANTA – Diana Schorn's frequent-flier miles are about to take a major dip.

In the 1 1/2 seasons that her daughter Dena has played volleyball for Georgia Tech, Diana has attended all but one of the Yellow Jackets' home matches. No mean feat for a woman who lives in north-central Illinois.

ONE TO WATCH: Volleyball at Michigan

6 p.m. Friday

The Illini pulled out of their funk last weekend by defeating Indiana and engaging then-No. 1 Penn State in a feisty four-game fight.

CHAMPAIGN – Russ Rose hardly recognized the University of Illinois volleyball team.

"We didn't see this from Illinois at our place," the veteran coach said after the Illini had his top-ranked Penn State team scrambling mightily to pull out a 13-15, 15-7, 18-16, 15-13 win Saturday night at Huff Hall. "It was a very competitive match, and we feel fortunate to win."

CHAMPAIGN – Sure, Don Hardin's scheme worked. But don't try to convince the University of Illinois volleyball coach he had anything to do with how things turned out Friday night at Huff Hall.